Chapter 281

Elena Tiago sighed. “I need to talk to you about my brother.”

“I’m sorry.” He whispered. The worst thing is that I knew why he said it, and I knew that he pitied me–but it was not his fault that Marvin turned out to be his brother. “Sorry for?”

“Sorry for my brother’s comment. Tiago apologized. “Had I known that the two of you knew each other, I would’ve never-”

He took a deep breath and closed his mouth, unable to finish his sentence. “Hired us?” I guessed.

For some reason, I was happy he didn’t because I did not want to interfere with the money the cocktail bar needed.

“So I guess you now know that he wasn’t on that island I told you about,” Tiago mentioned. The island thing was a stupid story, to begin with, but I was also as stupid to go along with it. “Yes, and I guess you know I was his pen-pal and that I ran out on him,” I spoke.

“Yes.” Tiago nodded. “Can I ask why?”

Because he’s a killer and murdered my father’s best friend, who has been investigating him, that was the bold truth which I could not give Tiago. At times I had to remind myself that he was also a Castillo.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. He made his opinion very clear, and it was obviously for a reason.” I spoke as 1 looked at Marvin. The same woman from earlier was still glued to his side and had no intentions of moving.

Tiago laughed. “Misty?” He questioned. “Don’t worry about her. She’s crazy, and there are no words to describe how much he hates her.”

For some strange reason, I felt at ease after learning the news. It shouldn’t even have mattered to me, but it did. “Really?”

Tiago sighed. “Elena, I know my brother, and he didn’t mean a word of what he said.”

“I don’t think he lied either.”“”

“He only had good things to say about you, and he’s actually one of the most respectful people I know.” Tiago stuck up for him. The thing is that he wasn’t supposed to say those things. Marvin was. “I know what you think. He went to prison, and yes, he did-but he’s innocent.”

Then who killed Maddenst Flow innocent could a cartel member be?

I forced a smile on my face as I did not want to ruin Tiago’s day, “I can tell you get nervous around people, but despite everything, you dragged me to the dance floor to put in a good word for your brother,” I concluded. He was still unable to look me in the eye, but he went above and beyond to stick up for his brother, who didn’t deserve it.

“It’s that obvious, isn’t it?” Tiago spoke, embarrassed. “Just talk to him, please.”

He looked up at me for the first time and stared at me with hopeful eyes. I was going to address Marvin at one point because I wanted to ask him why he had said those things about me, but that was between Marvin and me.

The moment the song had ended, Tiago quickly removed his hands from my waist and stepped back as if he had made a mistake. “It was just a dance.” 1 chuckled. “And I will talk to your brother_later.”

Tiago grew a smile on him as Anya made her way over. “Hey, guys!” She greeted us. “What are we talking about?”

“Nothing much, just my idiot brother,” Tiago told her. Anya shot me a sympathetic look. The two were basically one, so anything Marvin must’ve told Tiago-he must’ve said Anya. “I figured, and I’m sorry about everything.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry.”

“Elena, did you know Tiago called you a walking goddess?” Anya smacked my shoulder. Tiago released a cough and shook his head, denying her accusation.

“No, i-it wasn’t like that, and those weren’t my exact words, but—”

“I mean, he wasn’t lying because I agree.” Anya continued. “And if Marvin can’t respect you, there are many others who will-but the thing is that Marvin does respect you. He’s just a toxic male who’s embarrassed because you left him behind.” Anya shrugged with a big smile on her face.

She was a sweet girl with a good personality, and her words made a lot of sense. There was no way to justify Marvin’s words, but I did hurt his feelings, and even a monster like him deserved an honest rejection.

-Thanks for the advice, and I guess I’ll leave you guys to it.”

The newlyweds walked off while I went back to the bar so I could spy on Marvin. “What did Tiago want from you?” Rona stuck her nose in my business. “Nothing special.”

Telling her about Marvin would only make things more complicated than they had to be.

Marvin…

Tiago’s words about Marvin’s ex-girlfriend were confusing because Marvin hadn’t stared at me since she had glued herself to his body.

Hours had passed, and the party was coming to an end. The last part of the wedding was to wish the newlyweds good luck before they drove off to their new future. The reception hall was getting emptier by the second as many people made their way outside, but I only had one goal, and that was to talk to Marvin.

I looked at him from a distance, but this time he was alone. It was now or never.

“Rona, you go ahead without me. I’ll be right there,” I informed her as I escaped behind the bar and made my way over to Marvin. He had his back turned to me, just like the first time, and it felt as if my brains were about to explode.

Where did I even find the courage to approach him?

It almost seemed like a repeat of that day as I tapped his shoulder, causing him to turn around. A frustrated sigh escaped from his lips until he realized it was me who had interrupted him. The look in his eyes had softened as he was waiting for me to say the first words. All we had to do was apologize to each other, and after that, we could both go our own way.

“Elena,” Marvin acknowledged me with a warm smile on his lips. It was a friendly smile that confused me because a monster like him did not have the right to smile. A monster like him didn’t even have the right to chuckle.

“L…I,” I murmured as I dropped my tough act. I knew what I wanted to say, but I just couldn’t.

Seeing him in front of me and realizing the serious level of crimes he committed was nerve-racking.

“Marvin, your brother, and Anya are looking for you.”

I rolled my eyes at the unfortunate interruption and came face to face with Tiffany. Perfect timing.

“They are?”

Tiffany stared at us with a suspicious look in her eyes but luckily shrugged it off. “Yes, one of the security guys told me-and we’re behind schedule. People are getting impatient.”

“Just go outside and keep them calm. I’ll get them.” Marvin reassured her. From the tone in his voice, I could’ve never guessed he was a monster. “Thanks, that’s nice of you!” Tiffany smiled.

“By the way, he told me there’s something wrong with the dressing rooms, so they had to take their clothes all the way to the top floor or something, I’m sure you can find them.”

She gave us one last smile and walked off in a hurry while I could only focus on Marvin. I had expected him to let me continue, but he ignored my existence and walked off. Flustered, I stayed behind, wondering whether I should follow him or not.

“I’m here anyway, so it doesn’t really matter anymore,” I spoke to myself. Determined to get an answer, I walked behind him and waited for him to notice me-but not a single word had left his mouth. Even when I followed him all the way to the hallway and coughed on purpose, there was still no reaction. As annoying as I was, I had even followed him up the hundreds of stairs, but still…

there was not a single reaction.

“Wait, not so fast!” I spoke out of breath as we reached the top floor. Perhaps if I spend less time on prison pen pals and more time in the gym, I wouldn’t have been in this position. Marvin finally stopped walking and turned around to face me.

“Are you stalking me?” He asked. Oh, so now I was the crazy one?

I placed my hand on my knees to catch my breath and shook my head. “No, I mean yes-I just want to talk to you,” I told him. “I need to know why you said all those things about me.”

Marvin tilted his head to look at me and shook his head with a mischievous smirk on his face. “I don’t feel like talking yet.” He raised his brow as his hand reached for the doorknob. Even after running after him like a dog, he still didn’t want to talk to me. Was he teasing me? Was he doing this on purpose?

Marvin opened the door and stepped aside to let me enter. “Ladies who walk away from first dates first.”

I scoffed at his lame joke. “Thank you-”

Suddenly, I yelled out in fear as a man stood at the center of the room and pointed his gun at Tiago’s head. Next to Tiago was Anya, who had tears streaming down her face. The pair were on their knees, trembling-and stared at us with fearful eyes. The man with the gun was covered from head to toe and wore a mask so we couldn’t see his face.

Marvin grabbed my hand tightly and, in one swift movement, pulled me behind his back. I was frozen as he took out a gun of his own and pointed it right back at the man. What was happening?

Marvin looked at his brother and Anya, who were terrified for their lives before his eyes moved to the unfamiliar man.

“Drop the gun.”